Rotating amusement apparatus



Oct. 27, 1953 M, MYERS 2,657,054

ROTATING AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed Aug. 3 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 inr/enfior MAX/1 M7595.

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r5 8 m m m w M mm r e P Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTApplication August 3, 1951, Serial No. 240,177 In Great Britain August19, 1950 2 Claims.

This invention relates. in. general to amusement apparatus and, inparticular, to apparatus in which persons are amused by being carried bycentrifugal force against an inclined wall which is caused to rotateabout an axis. Essentially, the apparatus comprises a hollow memberhaving an outwardly flaring conical upper part and a lower cylindricalpart and a floor movable only in the lower cylindrical part.

An object of the present invention is to provide improved constructionswhich afford more amusement both to persons taking part and also toonlookers. It also possesses an increased safety factor.

Under one form of the invention a rotating wall of the apparatusconverges downwardly to give the increased safety factor, so that anytendency for a person to tilt forward as the rotating wall slows down isavoided, the body of the person always remaining inclined backwardlyagainst the wall instead of sliding down in a vertical position.

In another construction a person is held or is assisted in being held tothe wall by air pressure directed from the axis of a central columntowards the wall, that is to say from the centre outwardly.

A temporary support or floor is provided on which a person stands untilsuch time as the support is transferred to the internal part of thewall.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a part sectional elevation of one form of apparatus.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are detail views of various contours, and

Fig. 5 is a part sectional elevation of a modified form of apparatus.

Referring to Fig. l the wall has an internal part consisting of a lowercylindrical part 2 and a downwardly converging part I. At the base ofthe part 2 is a track 3. This track is mounted on runners or wheels 4which may be pneumatically tired. The runners or wheels 4 are mounted onbrackets 5 carried on a framework 6. Mounted on the uprights of theframework 6 are guide wheels I which bear against a track 8 on theexternal part of the wall. A motor or other source of power 9 drives oneor more of the Wheels 4 and through this drive the wall is rotated. Braking means as indicated at It may be provided.

Within the wall is a support or platform II which is lowered or raisedby a jack device l2 which may be hydraulically air actuated or by somemechanical arrangement. The platform H r is guided for movement byrunners I 3' working on tracks I 4 on the. internal part of the wall.

In this construction a platform H. The apparatus is then set in motionand when the person has reached the internal wall due to the centrifugalforce set up, the platform is lowered, and the person is held to theinternal wall.

Examples of the form of internal wall are shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

In Fig. 2 the internal wall consists of a parallel-walled part l5 and acup-shaped walled part l6. In Fig. 3 there is shown an internal wallconsisting of a parallel-walled part I! and, a downwardly convergingpart l8 merging into a parallel-walled part 19. In this construction theperson could move up the wall l8 for a time, but on reaching the partiii the movement would be discontinued or checked and thereafter themovement would be one of revolution only. Fig. 4 shows an internal wall20 of hexagonal contour.

Fig. 5 shows another form of apparatus. According to this construction aperson is held or is assisted in being held to the wall by air pressuredirected from the axis of a central column 2| towards the wall, that isto say, from the centre outwardly. The speed of rotation is generallymuch slower than with the form in which centrifugal force set up duringrotation of the wall is used alone to hold a person against the wall.

The applied air pressure issues from the central column 2 i frommultiple outlets, such as elongated slots 22 spaced around the perimeterof the column. The column 2! may be of uniform cross section at theupper part merging at the lower end into the frustum of a cone 23, theslanting sides of which may have multiple outlets 24 for directingstreams of air in suitable directions, for example, at issuing angleswhereby the said streams intersect the streams issuing from that part ofuniform cross section. The path of the latter streams may be at rightangles to the wall. The streams of air may be likened to whirling orlike sprays directed towards the wall.

The supply of air may be obtained from any suitable apparatus, forexample, an air pump or a compressor or blower 25.

A wire meshing 28 may be placed over the air outlets.

The apparatus may be used for purposes other than amusement, forexample, gymnastic performances.

It will be apparent that the invention can be person stands upon thevariously modified and changed within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An amusement apparatus comprising, the combination of, a hollowmember having an open top and rotatable about its vertical axis, meansto rotate said member about said axis, the lower part of said memberhaving interior walls formed of a cylinder, the upper part of saidmember having interior walls formed of a truncated cone upwardlyflaring, a circular horizontal floor slidably positioned within saidcylindrical Walls and means to raise and lower said floor to alternatelyclose and open the bottom of said truncated part of said member, saidfloor forming a base, when closing the bottom end of said truncatedcone, upon which a person may stand with his back against said upwardlyflaring wall, the retation of said member causing said person to remainsuspended against said wall when said floor is lowered and to slideupwardly on said wall, the bottom of the cone-shaped part having adiameter smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical part of the hollowmember thus forming an i:Ebutment to limit the upward movement of saidour.

2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, in which means are provided fordirecting a plurality of air streams from said axis outwardly againstsaid upwardly flaring walls for assisting in holding a person againstthe surface of said upwardly flaring walls.

MARK MYERS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 920,567 Hayes May 4, 1909 2,586,333 Hofimeister Feb. 19, 1952FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 452,899 Great Britain Sept. 1, 1936489,789 Great Britain Aug. 4, 1938

